scholarly journals Bringing the Social Back in: Some Suggestions for the Qualitative Study of Emotions

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-38
Author(s):  
Margarethe Kusenbach ◽  
Donileen R. Loseke

As a relatively new area of inquiry, it is not surprising that the research agendas and methodological tools of the sociology of emotions are still evolving. Our goal in this article is to offer new ideas toward emphasizing the social, as opposed to individual, dimensions of emotions in sociological research. What are the historical, cultural, and biographical structures and contexts of individual emotional experiences? What are the social and political antecedents of individual experience? What are the origins of social and cultural frameworks shaping individual experience? What are the social and political consequences of individual experiences? Broadly speaking, these questions are about how people make meanings from cultural resources, and about how these meanings make culture. And because these are questions about meaning, they necessarily require qualitative data and analytic techniques. The second section of the article, written by Loseke, conceptualizes and explores emotions as systems of meanings. Rather than focusing on unique individual experiences, Loseke’s starting point is the shared ideas and rules regarding emotions within a culture, and their manifestations in widely circulating narratives. The ensuing analysis focuses on the symbolic and emotion codes (e.g., victim) and structures of such stories, and on the work they do for individuals and for society as a whole. The third part of the article, written by Kusenbach, begins with individual emotional experiences, yet seeks to account for the larger cultural patterns (life stories) that provide them with meaning. Kusenbach’s research shows that residents of mobile homes, a stigmatized type of housing, employ a range of cultural narratives that furnish both negative and positive emotional experiences surrounding their place of living. In sum, it is argued that both approaches generate new questions and insights, new kinds of data, and new methodological tools for a more sociological study of emotions.

Author(s):  
Vitalii Kurylo ◽  
◽  
Olena Karaman ◽  

The article presents a theoretical and experimental substantiation of the problem of conflict of the social environment in Luhansk region as a consequence of the hybrid warfare in East of Ukraine. It is determined that the conflict is an active reciprocal actions of opponents to achieve their goals, colored by strong emotional experiences; social conflict is opened confrontation, collision of two or more subjects and participants of social interaction, the causes of which are perceived incompatible needs, interests and values. It is established that as a result of the hybrid warfare in the communities of East of Ukraine a high concentration of different categories of the population was formed, which caused an increased level of conflict in the social environment. The results of a sociological study on determining the level of conflict in the social environment in Luhansk region within the Project of EU «Intensification of the influence of teachers in Luhansk region on the processes of reconciliation and peace» are presented. It has been experimentally proven that the hybrid warfare in East of Ukraine caused a high level of conflict in the social environment of Luhansk region at the level of community, collective and individual and caused the need for targeted influence on reconciliation and peace in the region.


Author(s):  
Aminet M. Siiukhova ◽  
◽  
Ella M. Kueva ◽  

The article analyzes the problems of interpretation of Max Weber’s theory of «ideal types» in empirical sociological studies. The theory of «ideal types» is effective for studying the systemic qualities of universal socio-cultural institutions, local social groups and individuals. The concept of «ideal» is differentiated in everyday consciousness and in scientific and sociological discourses. In sociology, the «ideal» is understood as referring to the sphere of consciousness, regardless of the positive or negative assessment of a social phenomenon. The examples of possible applications of Weber’s theory for the analysis of modern social spheres of health care and education are shown. In the conditions of industrial and post-industrial society, one of the important statuses in the social structure is the profession, and the typifying factor of the professional community is the professional culture. The scientific operation of the ideal type category within the framework of an empirical sociological study of the professional community/personal cultural level of an individual will be most effectively implemented by means the modeling method, when the essential qualities of the object under study are structured in a graphical model.


Discourse ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-64
Author(s):  
O. V. Yarmak ◽  
P. P. Deryugin ◽  
V. E. Yarmak

Introduction. Sociological studies of the social portrait of students are an urgent problem of science, which has recently acquired special significance in Russian conditions. This is due to those circumstances, which, on the one hand, follow from the special characteristics of students as a specific social group, for which the problems of successful socialization are especially relevant, and on the other, they are dictated by the significant dependence of students on those factors that are formed in the political, economic and the legal space of different regions. In conditions of social transformations and turbulence, almost always young students find themselves in a more difficult situation than older generations. In particular, a number of problems arise on the basis of the divergences and nuances of the social perception of reality, which are formed among students who, to varying degrees, are adapted to the local conditions of the university.Methodology and sources. The theoretical foundation of the study is the concept of youth as a cultural group, the methodology of sociological research of risk and social uncertainty, the works of foreign and national researchers of student youth, which reflect various aspects of students' social life, in particular, the results of a study of the effects of social factors in the information space, new phenomena of youth subcultures, etc., which involve the development of new strategies for a sociological study of the social portrait of young students.Results and discussion. Particular problems of students' socialization arise in those regions of the country where new legal and political realities are forming. Compared with other social groups, in such social spaces, it is more difficult for young people to integrate and join in a new reality, because the usual mechanisms of socialization, formed earlier, are not actual now, and how to achieve full potential in the new social space is not yet clear to everyone. In particular, such contradictions are clearly visible in the Crimean realities, in the university community of Sevastopol. The purpose of the sociological research conducted by the Centre for Sociological Research of Sevastopol State University was to study the characteristics of the social portrait of student youth in Sevastopol, including those representing various groups of students according the period of their residence on the peninsula. For this purpose, two groups of young people were distinguished in the analysis, differing by the period of their residence in Sevastopol: an “indigenous” one – those who live in Sevastopol from birth or moved here at an early age, and a “new” one – those who moved to Sevastopol after 2014. The results of the study made it possible to determine the strategic life goals of university students, which can be described as ambitious: starting a business, acquiring a car and housing, providing material wealth, pursuing career success and self-realization.Conclusion. Most of the “indigenous” youth and “new” residents of the southern capital of Russia have shown their attitude to Sevastopol as a city that they want to develop together. This fact was assessed as a phenomenon of social gratitude: the young generation, who found in Sevastopol the opportunity to live peacefully and fulfill itself, binds itself to the city, but wants to make it better. The study also confirms the relevance of highlighting among students social and demographic groups that differ in the perception of social reality, due to the time spent in this social environment. In particular, this is noted in a higher degree of readiness of “old-timers” for practical participation in changes in social reality – participation in public life, volunteering, etc.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-122
Author(s):  
Olga V. Borisova ◽  
Syldysmaa A. Saryglar ◽  
Daria K. Scheglova

The relevance of the study is grounded by the need that ensuring social security of young people is the most important tool in solving many problems of this age group, who, at present, can become a key factor for our country and the basis for successful socio-economic development. The aim of this work is to study the assessments of social and personal security by the young people living in the Volgograd region. The empirical base is the data of a sociological study conducted by the research team of Altai State University in 2019. According to the results of the study, the youth of the Volgograd region is concerned about ensuring economic security (the level of material well-being of the population), problems of their own self-realization and prospects, corruption and arbitrariness of the authorities. In this regard, the respondents expressed in their views the need to take measures, ensuring the social security of the population of this region, and among them - to improve the living standards of the region's population, to combat unemployment, and to improve the work of law enforcement agencies. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the analysis of the social security of youth in the context of the socio-economic development of the region of residence. The practical value of the study lies in the presentation of relevant assessments of the social security of young people in the region, that will allow the state and other security agents to take measures to improve the situation in the region.


Author(s):  
Ovidiu Dănuț SOARE ◽  

Sociological research during the interwar period was meant to be a way through which the country could be known better, in other words, to make the Romanian realities better known, especially through monographic research, initiated by sociologist D. Gusti, considered to be the starting point of the Romanian Sociological School. After the achievement of the national ideal through the Great Union of 1918, a new ideal was necessary, that could complete the former. The nation was in the process of finding itself. The social problems of the country would be understood by knowing the country. All the enthusiastic forces were called forth to help to raise awareness of the nation, which were to become part of the monographic research teams: school teachers, priests, secondary teachers and professors, doctors, agronomists, mayors and praetors, members of the community centres, and even “the superior religious and civil rulers of the Nation, cultivating an Ethics and a Politics of Truth.” This study presents some aspects of the activity of the Community Centres in the rural area, the presence of the Royal Student Teams and the compulsoriness of the Social Service in the villages.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Alice Vianello

This article examines different forms of Ukrainian migrant women’s social remittances, articulating some results of two ethnographic studies: one focused on the migration of Ukrainian women to Italy, and the other on the social impact of emigration in Ukraine. First, the paper illustrates the patterns of monetary remittance management, which will be defined as a specific form of social remittance, since they are practices shaped by systems of norms challenged by migration. In the second part, the article moves on to discuss other types of social remittances transferred by migrant women to their families left behind: the right of self-care and self-realisation; the recognition of alternative and more women-friendly life-course patterns; consumption styles and ideas on economic education. Therefore, I will explore the contents of social remittances, but also the gender and intergenerational conflicts that characterise these flows of cultural resources. 


2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-144
Author(s):  
Suzanne Marie Francis

By the time of his death in 1827, the image of Beethoven as we recognise him today was firmly fixed in the minds of his contemporaries, and the career of Liszt was beginning to flower into that of the virtuosic performer he would be recognised as by the end of the 1830s. By analysing the seminal artwork Liszt at the Piano of 1840 by Josef Danhauser, we can see how a seemingly unremarkable head-and-shoulders bust of Beethoven in fact holds the key to unlocking the layers of commentary on both Liszt and Beethoven beneath the surface of the image. Taking the analysis by Alessandra Comini as a starting point, this paper will look deeper into the subtle connections discernible between the protagonists of the picture. These reveal how the collective identities of the artist and his painted assembly contribute directly to Beethoven’s already iconic status within music history around 1840 and reflect the reception of Liszt at this time. Set against the background of Romanticism predominant in the social and cultural contexts of the mid 1800s, it becomes apparent that it is no longer enough to look at a picture of a composer or performer in isolation to understand its impact on the construction of an overall identity. Each image must be viewed in relation to those that preceded and came after it to gain the maximum benefit from what it can tell us.


Author(s):  
William F. McCants

From the dawn of writing in Sumer to the sunset of the Islamic empire, this book traces four thousand years of speculation on the origins of civilization. Investigating a vast range of primary sources, some of which are translated here for the first time, and focusing on the dynamic influence of the Greek, Roman, and Arab conquests of the Near East, the book looks at the ways the conquerors and those they conquered reshaped their myths of civilization's origins in response to the social and political consequences of empire. The Greek and Roman conquests brought with them a learned culture that competed with that of native elites. The conquering Arabs, in contrast, had no learned culture, which led to three hundred years of Muslim competition over the cultural orientation of Islam, a contest reflected in the culture myths of that time. What we know today as Islamic culture is the product of this contest, whose protagonists drew heavily on the lore of non-Arab and pagan antiquity. The book argues that authors in all three periods did not write about civilization's origins solely out of pure antiquarian interest—they also sought to address the social and political tensions of the day. The strategies they employed and the postcolonial dilemmas they confronted provide invaluable context for understanding how authors today use myth and history to locate themselves in the confusing aftermath of empire.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
César Costa Vitorino

The book “In search of explanations about African words: an investigation in some Brazilian dictionaries and / or glossaries (1889-2006)” raises controversial and relevant questions about the usefulness of Africanism for Brazil and the delimitation between Afro-Brazilian and africanists studies. The work is one of the results of the work that the author has been developing throughout his long and rich academic life. The author shows enthusiasm for the study of Brazilian Africanism, especially in what concerns on the relationships that are established between words and culture.It shows the participation of African languages in the constitution of the Brazilian Portuguese lexicon, since it considers that studies in this area have been taking place very slowly. Therefore, this work intends to promote the production of future researches that discuss about the social place of African words in Brazilian Portuguese. It makes a point of which we should have no doubt in affirming - unequivocally and systematically - that one can speak of Brazilian Africanism. It takes as a starting point the analysis of dictionaries and glossaries (1889-2006), while taking a retrospective look.It reflects, with such observation, about what is classified as Africanism in the Brazilian Portuguese lexicon. It suggests the need to draw a line between Afro-Brazilian and Africanists studies. Finally, it is expected that such a work can bring new look and perspectives. It is even verified that, in his text, there is a lot of work for everyone. That´s why this work in this book is considered by the author as a singular value.


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